Wild Wolf Demonstrates Tool Use: First Documented Case of Wolf Using Rope to Retrieve Underwater Crab Trap

Nov 27, 2025 04:39 pm CST

In a groundbreaking discovery on British Columbia's central coast, researchers have documented the first case of tool use by a wild wolf. Camera footage captured a female wolf deliberately using a buoy rope to pull underwater crab traps to shore, demonstrating complex problem-solving behavior previously undocumented in the species. This remarkable adaptation, observed in Heiltsuk Nation conservation areas, challenges existing understanding of wolf intelligence and may represent a culturally transmitted hunting technique.